Posts Tagged ‘Elizabeth Warren’

Day One of the Democratic National Convention began with utter chaos in the wake of a scandal over the revelation that the party’s leadership had tilted the primary elections in favor of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton against her contender, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

But the ink on the resignation letter of Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz was barely dry before Hillary Clinton hired her as a “surrogate” national chairwoman to lead her presidential campaign — in effect, promoting her for her loyalty, corruption notwithstanding.

Speeches by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, New Jersey Senator Corey Booker, First Lady Michelle Obama and then “rock star” runner-up candidate Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont helped defuse some of the tension, but there was still plenty of bitter energy to spare.

The house was packed to the rafters for the Sanders speech, with thousands of signs — ironically, in the colors of the Israeli flag — waving frantically with slogans like, “Stronger Together” and “A Future to Believe In.”

The entire hall was on its feet as Sanders walked to the podium, and the cheers shook the building for at least five full minutes, with the former candidate repeatedly trying to begin his speech, only to give up laughing. “Thank you, thank you,” he said. The applause lasted longer than that garnered by the First Lady.

Supporters with tear-filled eyes chanted, “Feel.the.Bern! Feel.the.Bern!” But when they finally allowed their hero to talk, the message he delivered was not the one they wanted to hear, despite his obvious effort to let them down gently.

The longest-serving Independent Senator in the history of the nation told his supporters they must work to defeat Donald Trump — and they MUST support Hillary Clinton to do so.

He thanked Michelle Obama for her “incredible service to our country.” And he thanked “the 13 million americans who voted for the ‘political revolution’ who gave us the 1,846 pledged delegates here tonight!” He also thanked the delegates for “being here” and for “all the work you have done,” telling them he looked forward to their votes in the roll call on Tuesday.

After thanking his family, friends and others who have seen him through his entire political career, Sanders said, “I understand that many people here and around the country are disappointed … I think it’s fair to stay that no one is more disappointed than I am.”

The blunt reference to the rigged system that had lost him the primary to Hillary Clinton was unmistakable. But equally clear was the fact that Sanders, a seasoned politician, recognized there was little he could do about it. Knowing when to fold the cards, Sanders clearly now hopes to keep as many people on board as possible, despite the obvious corruption that has been exposed.

“I hope you take enormous pride in the accomplishments we have achieved,” he said. “Together my friends, we have begun a political revolution to transform America, and that revolution, our revolution, continues.”

“Election days come and go but the struggle of the people to create a government that represents all of us, and not just the one — that struggle continues… I look forward to being part of that struggle with you.

“This election is not about and has never been about Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders or any of the other candidates that have sought the presidency,” he declared.

“This election is about and must be about the needs of the American people and the kind of future we create for our children and our grandchildren.”

Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman in 2000 was supposed to be crowned America’s first Jewish VP. Now, as the Democratic primaries are rolling to the finish line, there’s a solid chance that Vermont Senator, Brooklyn born Bernie Sanders, would be the first to have that honor.

When ABC’s “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos had this exchange:

Stephanopoulos: If you don’t, sir, and this is my final question, you open to being considered as Secretary Clinton’s running mate?

Sanders: It’s a little bit early to talk about that. Right now, our function is to do everything I can, George — and you’re going to see me running all over California, we’re in New Mexico now — we’re going to do everything that we can to get every vote and every delegate that we can and go into that convention with as much momentum as is possible.

Stephanopoulos: Didn’t hear a no, Senator. We’ll be talking to you soon. Take care.

Candidate Clinton for her part said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that she is open to a wide variety of possible running mates. She mentioned Dallas Mavericks owner businessmen Mark Cuban, who said he’d like to be either Clinton’s or Trump’s VP.

Now, that’s keeping your options open.

With very few primaries left — California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota and that’s it, Sanders stands no realistic chance of significantly cutting Hillary’s lead of 274 pledged delegates, never mind her 486 super-delegates. All Clinton needs to do at this point in order to win the Democratic nomination is to pick up only 90 of the remaining 939 outstanding delegates. Sanders must win 850. So that’s not going to happen.

But Bernie Sanders has a major advantage over Hillary Clinton in the national polls, which she cannot deny: while Clinton and Trump are split in major national polls, and over the past two weeks have been trading the same 2 to 3 points between them, meaning they are essentially tied, Bernie Sanders whips Trump by double digits in almost every single major poll.

It’s always dangerous to use May polls as an indication of the voter’s will come November, and national polls are even less reliable than state polls because you never know how the sample of 600 to 2,000 respondents was distributed, and whether the distribution in May has anything to say about November. But one point is clear today: while most voters openly dislike both Hillary and Trump, and vote for either one of them as the lesser of two evils — the same voters actually like Sanders.

Which is why it’s rare for Sanders to beat Trump in those national polls with less than a two digit lead. This is going to be part of Bernie Sanders’ camp’s argument in Philadelphia this summer: Bernie can get the voters out, Bernie ignites their imagination. Hillary, even if she wins in November, will do so with a few votes over the split, and without coattails, meaning both houses of Congress will remain Republican.

When Sanders is urging the super-delegates to take “an objective look” at which candidate has a better shot at beating Trump in November, he’s talking about these national polls. Sanders has also condemned the entire institution of super-delegates, saying it is unfair and is part of an “anointment process,” rather than free and open elections.

Hillary has not expressed any degree of enthusiasm about doing with Sanders what her husband did with Al Gore in 1992 and 1996. “I am going to be the nominee and want to spend my time taking on Trump,” Clinton said. She urged Sanders to face the realities of the election process, reminding him that “we are stronger together.” She also noted that the differences between herself and Sanders on the issues “pale in comparison to Donald Trump,” suggesting that “most of his [Sanders’] supporters understand that as well.”

But should Sanders, with his considerable cache of both voters and money, decides to play hardball even after Hillary had picked up her 90 votes and crossed the finish line, would he be able to exact from the winner the ultimate price for his cooperation? The chances of that look better than 50-50 today.

Salon wrote this weekend: “Hillary must pick Bernie for VP: She may even need him more than he needs her.” Salon noted a Rasmussen poll found that 36 percent of likely Democratic voters want Clinton to name Sanders as her running mate – almost double the 19 percent of voters supporting the next most popular vice presidential contender, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. You’ll note that Sen. Warren is a lot closer to Sanders’ politics, especially on Wall Street, than Hillary’s.

And Politicus USA pointed on Sunday: “Bernie Sanders would bring Independents and lock down younger voters for Hillary Clinton. Sanders also attacks Donald Trump with a zeal and conviction that would throw the Republican off of his game for the entire fall. … Hillary Clinton could do a whole lot worse for herself than putting Bernie Sanders on the ticket.”

The Senate on Monday voted 52-45 against granting President Barack Obama the congressional authority he asked for to fast-track a trade deal with 11 Pacific-rim nations, a deal which happens to be at the center of his second-term economic agenda.

According to Reuters, the vote was a victory for Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, an outspoken opponent of giving Obama fast-track authority, delegating the power to negotiate this trade deal to the president, while committing Congress to a simple up-or-down vote on its ratification.

“If the Senate is going to talk about trade, we must consider its impact on American workers and the middle class,” Reid said before to the Voice of America. “It is essential that, if we move to ‘fast-track,’ we consider these other bills as part of the process.”

Just recently, Congress passed a bill giving it some review powers over the Administration’s expected deal with Iran over its nuclear program.

In April, Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized the fast-track bill and the Obama administration’s refusal to release more information about it. The president responded harshly to her attack, and was actually flirting with Senate Republicans to get his bill passed.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership would unify standards for one-third of the world’s trade, and cut trade barriers. The bill faces opposition from labor unions who say it will hurt American workers.

On Tuesday, Feb. 11, the Emergency Committee for Israel released a letter to Hillary Clinton, urging her to attend the Israeli Prime Minister’s speech to Congress, scheduled for March 3. She may have to, given a new poll and pro-Israel competition from an unlikely source.

ECI, chaired by the Weekly Standard’s William Kristol, is a staunchly pro-Israel educational organization, which sees its goal as educating the public about “the serious challenges to Israel’s security and about what elected officials in this country are doing and should do in order to meet those challenges.”

Clinton is scheduled to be in Washington on March 3, the same date as Bibi’s speech, as ECI noted.

CLINTON COULD HAVE BEEN EXPECTED TO BEG OFF THE HIGHLY-POLITICIZED SPEECH

The former Secretary of State, New York Senator, and putative Democratic candidate for U.S. President, is being honored on March 3 by Emily’s List, a Washington-based advocacy group for pro-reproductive rights female Democratic candidates. It is the 30th anniversary event for the organization. Clinton will deliver the keynote address at the gala and will receive the “We are EMILY Award.”

Clinton’s Emily List event will be held at the Washington Hilton, just four miles from Capitol Hill. The gala program begins at 7:00 p.m. Netanyahu’s address to the joint session of Congress is likely to begin at 9:00 p.m., in order to reach the west coast after normal business hours.

Clinton is in a pickle.

Ordinarily she could have waved off the invitation by explaining the geographic confluence actually made it impossible for her to attend Netanyahu’s speech to the joint session of Congress – much as of course she would love to see her good friend Bibi. She could have said that the timing does not make it convenient, it makes it impossible, as both events are in the evening and after all, she can’t duck out of an event at which she is both being honored and is giving the keynote address.

She would be expected to beg off at least in part because the Netanyahu speech has become a hot potato. It became highly politicized by the White House rouse that it was “blindsided” and “slapped in the face” because Bibi had not “informed” them about his plans to visit – something we all learned later was exactly the opposite of the truth.

And now the Congressional Black Caucus has chosen to turn the speech into a racial issue, claiming Netanyahu coming to speak despite President Obama’s opposition is a form of racial “disrespect.”

But there is an additional factor. It’s called Elizabeth Warren.

Warren, the former Harvard Law Professor and current Democratic U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, has been promoted by the far left as the “only” real progressive Democrat. She’s pro-Occupy Wall Street and anti-banks. Warren is considered the darling of the populist movement, and she’s also the “other woman” Democratic candidate, which makes her a bit of a nightmare for Hillary Clinton.

Warren has denied she is running for president, but so did President Obama two years before his first run, and a brand-new poll shows Warren pulling ahead of Clinton.

ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA) STRONGLY SUPPORTS ISRAEL’S SELF-DEFENSE

And, in what may come as a shock to many, Warren is very pro-Israel, and says so even in home state events when confronted by anti-Israel constituents.

One such event took place on Cape Cod several days before the Aug. 26 ceasefire ending Israel’s 2014 Operation Protective Edge.

Everyone expected that local issues would dominate Warren’s “office hours” meeting at the colorful Barnstable Town Hall. But several times constituents sharply criticized Warren’s support for Israel.

Warren was asked to defend her vote in favor of additional U.S. funding for the Israeli missile defense system known as Iron Dome, she was asked to condemn Israel for civilian casualties resulting from its operations in Gaza and she was asked to support cutting off funds to Israel if there is any more building in the “settlements.”

Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles confirmed that he will deliver the invocation at the Wednesday evening session of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

His sermon will focus on the ideals animating the United States, Wolpe said, and will precede speeches by Elizabeth Warren, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, and former President Bill Clinton.

In a bipartisan endorsement of the American rabbinate, the presentation by the Conservative Rabbi Wolpe will balance the invocation given by Orthodox Rabbi Meir Soloveichik at the opening session of the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Wolpe has been named the most influential rabbi in America this year by Newsweek magazine and one of the 50 most influential Jews in the world by the Jerusalem Post.

He is the author of seven books and widely known as a newspaper columnist and radio and television commentator.